Well, we finally did it. Sleep Crimes now has some actual, bonafide studio recordings to share for your listening pleasure. It was my first time doing any sort of studio recording, and I’d say things went a lot better than I expected them to. We did tracking at Phoenix Down Recording Studios in Somerville, MA. Mixing and mastering was done by our buddy Kevin Carafa – a talented audio engineer based out of Portland, OR.
Category: Music
Being in a Band is a Labor of Love: Lessons from Sleep Crimes
A bit over a year ago I reconnected with an acquaintance from college who plays drums and decided to start a band with a few other friends. I felt like it was a now or never sort of thing for me to do at the time. Despite being a self-proclaimed music nerd, I’ve been playing guitar for over a decade and never found the right mix of people to write and play music with regularly up until that point. For me, it was very difficult to find the right balance of A. “can I effectively write and play music with these people?” and B. Â “do I like being around them?” Â Luckily with Sleep Crimes the answers are yes and yes – otherwise I doubt we’d make it to this point.
Now maybe you’re sitting there asking: Well why didn’t you just record and perform on your own, Sam? I personally never went down the the solo singer-songwriter path because I wanted to be part of something bigger, not be forced to take up the entire spotlight. I also had trouble finishing anything I started when it came to writing music – either I would never know how to end things or figure out how to fit the music over lyrics (and vice versa). Â I always had fragments of songs that I could never fully piece together into a finished product. So I would just play for myself – improvise alone, for years, waiting to find the right group. Â I wasn’t going to be in a band for the sake of being in the band…the right pieces needed to fall into place for it to happen.
Life Updates: Sleep Crimes, Charles River Interactive, and Other Happenings
The rumors are true. I’m playing guitar in an actual band now. It even has a name and a stupid subgenre! The name being Sleep Crimes; the genre being “surf doom.” It’s kind of remarkable that I haven’t been in a band since around high school, but Boston city life makes starting such projects a tough task. The story of the formation involves a bizarre ride on the #1 bus and working the old Sam Coren charm to sweet talk a bandless drummer into getting something going.
When you put four terrible music nerds together in the same room with a bunch of instruments the songs practically write themselves. We’re having lots of fun and plan to play some gigs around New England over the summer with the first one being an Allston DIY show in July. Here’s a taste of what we’ve been doing…working on getting some demo recordings together:
Best ABBA EDM Remixes on SoundCloud
Sometimes it’s hard listening to people attempt to remix what equates to some of the finest pop music ever crafted. ABBA grew to major international stardom during the late 70’s. Today, despite the awkward movies starring Pierce Brosnan and shameless Broadway cash-in, I can still find myself able to still enjoy this ultimate guilty pleasure Swedish group.
When I started doing the research for this post I had strong doubts about finding any ABBA remix remotely listenable, let alone ones worth sharing. Fortunately, Soundcloud hasn’t  let me down yet when it comes to helping me find the treasure among the trash for dance remixes.